Disarmament

The worldwide observance of the fourth annual International Day against Nuclear Tests will be commemorated on Thursday, 29 August. The Day highlights the efforts of the United Nations and a growing community of advocates, including Member States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, youth networks and media in informing and educating on the importance of a ban on nuclear weapons testing for the achievement of a safer and more secure world.

The 2013 United Nations Programme of Fellowships on Disarmament starts today in Geneva with the participation of young diplomats from 25 Member States, and will last nine weeks.

A delegation of the Security Council’s 1540 Committee’s Working Group on Monitoring and National Implementation wrapped up its three-day visit to Grenada today, having been invited by the Government.

NEW YORK, 16 July (Office for Disarmament Affairs) — The Group of Governmental Experts on Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures in Outer Space Activities concluded its work on 12 July. The 15-member Group of governmental experts, selected on the basis of equitable geographical distribution, carried out its work in three sessions over the last 12 months.

Kuwait deposited on 3 July its instrument of accession to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), and to the following Protocols of that treaty: Protocol I on non-detectable fragments; Amended Protocol II on the use of mines, booby-traps and other devices; Protocol III on the use of incendiary weapons; Protocol IV on blinding laser weapons; and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war.

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), jointly inaugurated the Caribbean Regional Armoury Management Training Centre in Port-of-Spain on 28 June.

In this week, which saw the opening for signature of the Arms Trade Treaty, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs launched the multi-donor United Nations Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation (UNSCAR). The Facility will work closely with complementary international assistance initiatives to ensure better coordination, coherence and information sharing.

HAMBURG/GENEVA/ NEW YORK, 6 June — The World Future Council has announced today the nominations of the Future Policy Award 2013. In partnership with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, this year’s Award seeks to highlight disarmament policies that contribute to peace, sustainable development and human security.

The first ever international treaty to regulate the trade of conventional weapons “opened a door of hope” to millions of people living in deprivation and fear because of the poorly controlled trade and the proliferation of those deadly weapons, the United Nations top official said today as the instrument opened for signature, with more than 60 delegates lining up to pen their names.

A frank and open exchange of views during the Disarmament Commission’s three-week session had helped to rebuild trust between delegations and set the stage to bridge longstanding differences of position and bring much-needed legitimacy to the United Nations disarmament machinery, speakers said today, as the body’s 2013 session drew to a close.